Addendum Help

[priver]

Hello, first of all... I am very thankful for powerscore's logical reasoning books. It has been helping me alot, and I have been improving. Unfortunately... I have been performing below average. Just took the Feb LSAT and got a 147 (before that was a 140, 137, and 138). I know.. this is terrible! I did apply last cycle... and just got waitlisted at one school which obviously did not work out.
I am planning to apply (I know that it is really risky at this time) schools in NYC (St.Johns, touro, cuny law, pace, ny law, and hofstra)
I was wondering if I can get your feedback on my addedum if it is okay?
Addendum (Should i say dear admissions committee?)
"Although it is not my intention to make excuses for my LSAT scores, I do believe that they must be considered under a certain context. I have never done well on standardized tests. On my SAT, for instance, I scored a 1250 first, and then a 1350, and yet I have excelled in college, with a current GPA of 3.8. My standardized tests have never been an indication of how well I will do academically, and I hope that you will focus not just on my LSAT score, but also on the rest of my application in order to see my potential."
Do you think I can add more?
Thank you for your time and your help, I really appreciate it!

[Steve Stein]

Hi Priver,

First of all, thank you for your kind words about our books; I'm glad that you've found them helpful! Second, don't say that your score is horrible! you scored better than half the people who took the test--and this is a smart group, taking a difficult test. And you improved ten points, which is not insignificant.

As for your addendum, I don't think it's necessary (I welcome the comments of others on this issue as well); if there were some extenuating circumstance it might be worth adding, but I don't think that your message would provide admissions people with new insight--they are already aware of the fact that the LSAT is not a perfect predictor of law school success, and they also know that there are a lot of smart people who get good grades but whose scores might not provide an accurate indication of their general intellectual abilities.

For many schools, there is a basic formula that considers both LSAT and GPA to create an index score, and often a threshold must be reached for an applicant to be considered. Beyond that point, the rest of the application is then taken into account (this is not the case at every school, but you can check with the programs that you are interested in).

Instead of an addendum, I would invest the extra time and effort into making sure that the rest of your application is great—one that that shows how a student with your specific background, experience, education and abilities would be a valuable addition to the class.

Let me know your thoughts on this, and again I invite the comments of others--thanks!

~Steve